prncess674
Nov 19, 01, 5:54 pm
Trip Report
Las Vegas, NV
Thursday, November 15th – Sunday, November 18th
Thursday, November 15th
Delta Flight 365 – 3:30pm departure from DFW to LAS. We cleared DFW security in about 10 minutes with no problems. The lines were fairly short to check in. Boarding began right on time. I proceeded to take my window seat in 29F. There were headsets on each of the seats. Our in-flight entertainment consisted of a few sitcom shows, but I settled in and proceeded to conduct a little business on the laptop. I am not sure if this flight used to serve a meal in coach, so we only got the standard Delta snack mix bag, which you can empty the contents onto a cocktail napkin. Good thing we weren’t hungry. The flight attendants were a bit slow with the drink cart but they did make it through the entire plane. We arrived into LAS a few minutes early. Overall a pretty uneventful short hop flight.
http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
Home Turf Sports Bar, LAS Airport – We proceeded to the sports bar in airport to wait for the rest of our party to arrive. The service was mediocre and way overpriced. One beer and a daiquiri was 15 bucks. Needless to say we nursed them slowly waiting for our party. I would have liked to have headed over to the HP club in the other terminal but was unable to do so since I would have to exit the secure area to reach the club in the other terminal.
Avis Rent A Car – The bus was outside waiting. The driver was very friendly and helped us with our luggage. Apparently they are not a lot of Avis Preferred Members who visit this location, because he made a big deal and said this is the “VIP” stop for our one Preferred Member on the bus. Everyone laughed. We had reserved an intermediate but were upgraded to the Pontiac Grand Prix. It was a fairly new low mileage car that didn’t smell like smoke. Smoke free cars seem to be harder and harder to come by these days.
https://rent.avis.com/AvisWeb/profile/AvisHome
Sahara Hotel Check In, 8:00PM – Our hotel for this trip was the Sahara hotel and casino at the North end of the strip. We had booked the cheap rooms on the internet ($39 Thursday, $59 Friday and Saturday – these rates are for the older Tunis Tower). I am not usually a fan of low end hotels but we decided to give a whirl, most things I read about the hotel said it was a clean basic hotel. The hotel is a bit far from the happening part of the strip so if you don’t have a car, you will probably be spending a few bucks on cabs. I tried asking for an upgrade. The desk clerk said he could upgrade us to the Tangiers Tower. We accepted. The Tangiers Tower is the newer supposedly nicer tower. If you were to book this tower online it was $10 more per night. So we saved $30 bucks by being upgraded to the new tower. I am not sure what the older tower rooms looked like and am glad I didn’t have to find out. Overall the room was clean and for the most part satisfactory. We had 2 double beds. A small table with two chairs, a 19’ color TV and another small makeup table with a chair. Note: there is no iron and board in the rooms. We didn’t inquire about getting one, so I don’t know if they are available. There was a hairdryer in the bathroom. Bathroom amenities were pretty basic – 2 bars of soap and a bottle of conditioning shampoo. The towels were also pretty thin. Our stock of towels consisted of 3 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 face cloths. (I would have liked more face cloths). We were assigned rooms 1762 & 1759, our room did have a nice view of the Stratosphere.
https://res.saharavegas.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+roweb+roweb04+res+f uncparms+up(a2560):;;;;;;;NP;? (https://res.saharavegas.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+roweb+roweb04+res+funcparms+up(a2 560):;;;;;;;NP;?)
http://www.saharavegas.com/hotel/deluxe.html
Sahara Hotel Buffet, 9:15PM – This was a pretty low-end buffet. $7.50 The buffet closed at 10PM and we really didn’t want to leave the hotel for dinner. I would definitely NOT recommend this buffet. It was really bad, the only thing that was even remotely edible was the fried chicken and the chicken pieces were hard to identify. Lesson learned, don’t eat the cheap buffet.
http://www.saharavegas.com/food/buffet.html
Trolley Ride to The Mirage Casino, 10PM – We took the trolley from the Sahara to the Mirage. BIG MISTAKE! We thought we save a few bucks by taking the trolley so we could enjoy a few drinks at The Mirage. Well it took us almost 30 minutes to get to there. The trolley stops at practically every hotel on the strip. The trolley just doesn’t stop on the street like a typical public bus. It has to go up to the entrance of each hotel and then navigate back onto the street. It cost $6 (4 *$1.50) for us to ride down the street. $6 in a taxi would have gotten us there a lot quicker. We chose the taxi for the ride home. The privately owned trolley runs up and down the Strip each 27 minutes or so from Sahara to the Hacienda Resort. It runs from 9:30-2:00 a.m. and costs $1.50 to ride-exact change required. Since it stops at every major hotel (including the Las Vegas Hilton which is a block off the strip sit back and expect a long ride. The link is quotes the old prices but the map is still valid.
http://www.fyivegas.com/travel/trolley.html
The Mirage Casino, 10:30PM – The Mirage was your typical mega casino. Most table games started at $10 a hand and the prices worked up from there. The scenery in the hotel was quite nice. It is worth the trip to just walk around and enjoy some of the scenery inside the hotel.
http://www.themirage.com/pages/frameset_noflash.asp
Sahara Casino Gambling – Till the wee hours of the morning. This is the place to go if you are just learning to play. They have $1 black jack tables. The dealers were all really friendly. The other nice thing about the Sahara is they use automatic shufflers but still deal from a shoe. Many of the big hotels on the strip use those continuous auto shufflers, that are really bad for the player. It basically means every hand is continuously dealt from a freshly shuffled 6 deck shoe, and you could continue to be dealt bad hand after bad hand. Also if you play $5 hands at the big mega casinos they deal so fast and the dealer are none too interested in helping the little guy learn some strategy along the way.
http://www.saharahotelandcasino.com/casino/features.html
Friday, November 16th
We slept in late and did not really get moving till about 11AM that morning. Lunch was a quick run through the Arby’s drive through.
Buying Show Tickets, Luxor Hotel – We drove over to the Luxor Hotel to see about getting tickets for that evenings show for Blue Man Group. We had no problems getting good seats for the 10PM show. Tickets were $82.50 a piece with tax. Since the Luxor and Excalibur are owned by the same company were also able to snag great seats for the 8:30PM Tournament of Knights dinner show at the Excalibur. Tickets were $44.66. This price included tax and tip for the dinner.
Caesars Palace, The Forum Shops – The girls sent the guys to the casino so they could bet on the fight and we headed out to spend some money. There were a lot of high end shops, but there was also a nice mix of reasonably priced shops as well. Most of the shops for women consisted of resort wear. Great clothes to wear on your trip in Vegas, but probably won’t get a lot of wear once you get home. We proceeded to shop till about 3PM. While shopping we got to see both attractions in “The Forum Shops”. One is the talking statues which is really cute and there is a laser light show on the rotunda during the performance. This is a kid friendly show. We also saw the other attraction which was much more dark and sinister. There were pyrotechnics, fog, fire and a lot of loud noises. Several small children around us were very scared. I didn’t understand why the parents didn’t leave, but older children will probably enjoy this show.
http://www.caesars.com/palace/shop_forum.html
The Venetian, More Shopping – We stopped into the little Mexican Cantina for a few Margaritas and Chips and Salsa. It was happy hour, a nice little break in the day. It wasn’t busy so we weren’t hurried along. We sat at a table near the rail and were able to watch the gondolas go by. Once again the girls headed for the shops while the guys headed to the casino. We met back at the Venetian food court at 6:30PM for a quick dinner so we could head back to the hotel and get ready for the evening of entertainment. The food court was your typical mall food court except a lot more expensive. I would have rather put the money we spent on fast food towards a better dinner, but time was of the essence.
http://www.venetian.com/shoppe/index.cfm
Sahara Hotel – We returned to find that our rooms had been cleaned and straightened. We had left a $3 tip and had asked for additional face cloths and bath towels. Our towels did not improve in quality and we only received one additional face cloth, and no additional bath towels.
Blue Man Group, Luxor Hotel, 10PM – We took a cab from our hotel to the Luxor since we were headed to the clubs after the show. The cab ride was a quick efficient way to get there with door to door service. Definitely worth the $8 cab ride. We took our seats around 9:40PM and settled in for the duration of the show. They did sell cocktails in the lobby, which you were able to take into the theater. It was stadium style seating like they have at all the new movie theaters. There were also cup holders built into the arm rest. The show was really great, but it is definitely not something you want to take your grandparents to see. You need to be open to modern art, but overall a really great show, that attracts a lot of 20 and 30 somethings.
http://www.blueman.com/feature/liveatluxor.shtml
RA Night Club, Luxor Hotel, Midnight – After Blue Man Group ended we headed over to the hot night club in the Luxor called “RA”. We waited in line for about 15 minutes, think Studio 54. For chunks at a time no one was let in, we were all corralled behind the velvet rope. We were then “inspected” to make sure we met the dress code. Several people were turned away. This is definitely a dress to impress kind of place. After being allowed entrance we paid the hefty cover charge, $10 Ladies and $25 Men. You walk into an explosion of sound, light and entertainment. There were dancers on platforms and acrobats hanging from the ceiling. Definitely a wild sight. Drinks were a hefty price as well. Crown and club soda was $7, and bottle beer were $4.50. We danced the night away and had a great time. RA is highly recommended for the 21-35 year old age bracket. Definitely come dressed to impress.
http://www.rathenightclub.com/
Saturday, November 17th
Sahara Casino Caravan Coffee Shop 11AM – We ate breakfast / lunch at the little coffee shop in the casino. This is typical diner food. It was nothing grand or extravagant, just your run of the mill Denny’s type food. The bill for two people was less than $15. Not bad for a quick bite. I had the fried chicken and my friend had the American omelet.
http://www.saharavegas.com/food/caravan.html
Sahara Spa, 12PM – Calling this a spa is a bit of a stretch but it was definitely a nice experience. It is not the lap of luxury you receive at probably the big hotel spas but it was still a nice peaceful experience. We had a manicure, pedicure, and a facial for $109. This was with the 10% coupon that was in the coupon book you get when you register for the Sahara slot club. The facial was really great, and I highly recommend it. It included a leg and arm massage.
http://www.saharavegas.com/hotel/salon.html
Circus Circus Casino, 3PM – This place was a CIRCUS. There were kids all over the place. Parking was a nightmare. Garage 1 was old and overcrowded. Once we finally found a place to park, we waited a long time for the elevator. It never did come so we finally took the stairs. Upstairs were all the Midway games, overpriced games for poor quality trinkets. I could only take this place in small doses. The guys seemed to like it. They walked away winners and would have played longer at the black jack tables if we didn’t have show tickets that evening.
http://www.circuscircus.com/index.php3
Treasure Island Casino, Buccaneer Bay Show, 7PM – We took another quick cab ride from our hotel to Treasure Island Casino to see the outdoor stage show performed every ninety minutes. I would suggest getting there between 6:30 and 6:45 PM if you want to be able to see anything. It is less than 10 minutes but it is a pretty cool free show.
http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/attrac_bucca.asp
Treasure Island Casino, Hideaway Lounge, 7:30PM – We had a few minutes to kill before our dinner reservations so we popped into Treasure Island for a quick drink. The Hideaway Lounge is just inside the entrance. There was a piano player and I believe it was a stand up bass cello playing soft music. It was a welcome escape from the loud noises of the casino. 4 martini’s was $30.
http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/din_bars.asp
Excalibur Casino, Tournament of Kings Dinner Show, 8:30PM – This was the second show for the evening. We were seated in the 3rd row of Russia. These were great seats for the show. Dinner is eaten with your hands. You are supposed to be in Medieval times. Soup is poured into bowls and you drink from the bowl. Dinner consisted of a roasted Cornish game hen, broccoli spears, potato wedges, and a dinner roll. Dessert was an apple fritter. You don’t go to this production for a great meal, you go for the entertainment. Cost per ticket was $44.66, which included tax and tip. Alcoholic drinks were not included in the price.
http://www.excaliburlasvegas.com/superset.php3/entertainment/tourney.php3
The Beach Night Club, 10PM – This club is located off the strip near the convention center. We had heard it was a cool place to go. This is definitely not the place to be seen at. There were a lot of low brow blue collar workers. All the women who work at the bar wear very tiny bikinis, it was just very tasteless. We left by midnight, and hit the cheap tables back at the Sahara, since the night was somewhat shot at that point. The drink prices were no cheaper than anything on the strip. You would do better visiting a club on the strip. We regretted not paying the extra money and not going to Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay. The review link listed below is much nicer to The Beach, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, or maybe there clientele has changed.
http://www.mandalaybay.com/dining.php3
http://www.travelape.com/lasvegas/nightlife/rum-jungle/
http://lasvegas.travelape.com/nightlife/beach/index.html
Sunday, November 18th
We checked out of our hotel that morning around 10:30AM. We had no problems getting up and moving since our night out on the town at The Beach turned out to be a bust.
Caesar’s Palace, Palatium Buffet, 11AM – We headed back to Caesar’s Palace for the second time on our trip to pick up the guy’s winnings from the fight. Then we headed over to the buffet before heading to the airport for the ride home. We waited in line about 20 minutes for a table. The buffet was really good and had a nice selection of foods. There were breakfast and lunch items on the buffet, an omelet station and lots of desserts to choose from. We were also served champagne with our meal. Overall a pretty good deal for $18 a person.
Delta Flight 465, LAS to DFW, 1:50PM – The flight home was uneventful. The flight was full but not oversold so we didn’t have to wait around looking for people to take off the plane. We took off right on time and arrived into DFW at 6:23PM right on schedule.
------------------
Rachel
CO - Platinum
Hilton - Diamond
SPG - Platinum
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-19-2001).]
Las Vegas, NV
Thursday, November 15th – Sunday, November 18th
Thursday, November 15th
Delta Flight 365 – 3:30pm departure from DFW to LAS. We cleared DFW security in about 10 minutes with no problems. The lines were fairly short to check in. Boarding began right on time. I proceeded to take my window seat in 29F. There were headsets on each of the seats. Our in-flight entertainment consisted of a few sitcom shows, but I settled in and proceeded to conduct a little business on the laptop. I am not sure if this flight used to serve a meal in coach, so we only got the standard Delta snack mix bag, which you can empty the contents onto a cocktail napkin. Good thing we weren’t hungry. The flight attendants were a bit slow with the drink cart but they did make it through the entire plane. We arrived into LAS a few minutes early. Overall a pretty uneventful short hop flight.
http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
Home Turf Sports Bar, LAS Airport – We proceeded to the sports bar in airport to wait for the rest of our party to arrive. The service was mediocre and way overpriced. One beer and a daiquiri was 15 bucks. Needless to say we nursed them slowly waiting for our party. I would have liked to have headed over to the HP club in the other terminal but was unable to do so since I would have to exit the secure area to reach the club in the other terminal.
Avis Rent A Car – The bus was outside waiting. The driver was very friendly and helped us with our luggage. Apparently they are not a lot of Avis Preferred Members who visit this location, because he made a big deal and said this is the “VIP” stop for our one Preferred Member on the bus. Everyone laughed. We had reserved an intermediate but were upgraded to the Pontiac Grand Prix. It was a fairly new low mileage car that didn’t smell like smoke. Smoke free cars seem to be harder and harder to come by these days.
https://rent.avis.com/AvisWeb/profile/AvisHome
Sahara Hotel Check In, 8:00PM – Our hotel for this trip was the Sahara hotel and casino at the North end of the strip. We had booked the cheap rooms on the internet ($39 Thursday, $59 Friday and Saturday – these rates are for the older Tunis Tower). I am not usually a fan of low end hotels but we decided to give a whirl, most things I read about the hotel said it was a clean basic hotel. The hotel is a bit far from the happening part of the strip so if you don’t have a car, you will probably be spending a few bucks on cabs. I tried asking for an upgrade. The desk clerk said he could upgrade us to the Tangiers Tower. We accepted. The Tangiers Tower is the newer supposedly nicer tower. If you were to book this tower online it was $10 more per night. So we saved $30 bucks by being upgraded to the new tower. I am not sure what the older tower rooms looked like and am glad I didn’t have to find out. Overall the room was clean and for the most part satisfactory. We had 2 double beds. A small table with two chairs, a 19’ color TV and another small makeup table with a chair. Note: there is no iron and board in the rooms. We didn’t inquire about getting one, so I don’t know if they are available. There was a hairdryer in the bathroom. Bathroom amenities were pretty basic – 2 bars of soap and a bottle of conditioning shampoo. The towels were also pretty thin. Our stock of towels consisted of 3 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 face cloths. (I would have liked more face cloths). We were assigned rooms 1762 & 1759, our room did have a nice view of the Stratosphere.
https://res.saharavegas.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+roweb+roweb04+res+f uncparms+up(a2560):;;;;;;;NP;? (https://res.saharavegas.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+roweb+roweb04+res+funcparms+up(a2 560):;;;;;;;NP;?)
http://www.saharavegas.com/hotel/deluxe.html
Sahara Hotel Buffet, 9:15PM – This was a pretty low-end buffet. $7.50 The buffet closed at 10PM and we really didn’t want to leave the hotel for dinner. I would definitely NOT recommend this buffet. It was really bad, the only thing that was even remotely edible was the fried chicken and the chicken pieces were hard to identify. Lesson learned, don’t eat the cheap buffet.
http://www.saharavegas.com/food/buffet.html
Trolley Ride to The Mirage Casino, 10PM – We took the trolley from the Sahara to the Mirage. BIG MISTAKE! We thought we save a few bucks by taking the trolley so we could enjoy a few drinks at The Mirage. Well it took us almost 30 minutes to get to there. The trolley stops at practically every hotel on the strip. The trolley just doesn’t stop on the street like a typical public bus. It has to go up to the entrance of each hotel and then navigate back onto the street. It cost $6 (4 *$1.50) for us to ride down the street. $6 in a taxi would have gotten us there a lot quicker. We chose the taxi for the ride home. The privately owned trolley runs up and down the Strip each 27 minutes or so from Sahara to the Hacienda Resort. It runs from 9:30-2:00 a.m. and costs $1.50 to ride-exact change required. Since it stops at every major hotel (including the Las Vegas Hilton which is a block off the strip sit back and expect a long ride. The link is quotes the old prices but the map is still valid.
http://www.fyivegas.com/travel/trolley.html
The Mirage Casino, 10:30PM – The Mirage was your typical mega casino. Most table games started at $10 a hand and the prices worked up from there. The scenery in the hotel was quite nice. It is worth the trip to just walk around and enjoy some of the scenery inside the hotel.
http://www.themirage.com/pages/frameset_noflash.asp
Sahara Casino Gambling – Till the wee hours of the morning. This is the place to go if you are just learning to play. They have $1 black jack tables. The dealers were all really friendly. The other nice thing about the Sahara is they use automatic shufflers but still deal from a shoe. Many of the big hotels on the strip use those continuous auto shufflers, that are really bad for the player. It basically means every hand is continuously dealt from a freshly shuffled 6 deck shoe, and you could continue to be dealt bad hand after bad hand. Also if you play $5 hands at the big mega casinos they deal so fast and the dealer are none too interested in helping the little guy learn some strategy along the way.
http://www.saharahotelandcasino.com/casino/features.html
Friday, November 16th
We slept in late and did not really get moving till about 11AM that morning. Lunch was a quick run through the Arby’s drive through.
Buying Show Tickets, Luxor Hotel – We drove over to the Luxor Hotel to see about getting tickets for that evenings show for Blue Man Group. We had no problems getting good seats for the 10PM show. Tickets were $82.50 a piece with tax. Since the Luxor and Excalibur are owned by the same company were also able to snag great seats for the 8:30PM Tournament of Knights dinner show at the Excalibur. Tickets were $44.66. This price included tax and tip for the dinner.
Caesars Palace, The Forum Shops – The girls sent the guys to the casino so they could bet on the fight and we headed out to spend some money. There were a lot of high end shops, but there was also a nice mix of reasonably priced shops as well. Most of the shops for women consisted of resort wear. Great clothes to wear on your trip in Vegas, but probably won’t get a lot of wear once you get home. We proceeded to shop till about 3PM. While shopping we got to see both attractions in “The Forum Shops”. One is the talking statues which is really cute and there is a laser light show on the rotunda during the performance. This is a kid friendly show. We also saw the other attraction which was much more dark and sinister. There were pyrotechnics, fog, fire and a lot of loud noises. Several small children around us were very scared. I didn’t understand why the parents didn’t leave, but older children will probably enjoy this show.
http://www.caesars.com/palace/shop_forum.html
The Venetian, More Shopping – We stopped into the little Mexican Cantina for a few Margaritas and Chips and Salsa. It was happy hour, a nice little break in the day. It wasn’t busy so we weren’t hurried along. We sat at a table near the rail and were able to watch the gondolas go by. Once again the girls headed for the shops while the guys headed to the casino. We met back at the Venetian food court at 6:30PM for a quick dinner so we could head back to the hotel and get ready for the evening of entertainment. The food court was your typical mall food court except a lot more expensive. I would have rather put the money we spent on fast food towards a better dinner, but time was of the essence.
http://www.venetian.com/shoppe/index.cfm
Sahara Hotel – We returned to find that our rooms had been cleaned and straightened. We had left a $3 tip and had asked for additional face cloths and bath towels. Our towels did not improve in quality and we only received one additional face cloth, and no additional bath towels.
Blue Man Group, Luxor Hotel, 10PM – We took a cab from our hotel to the Luxor since we were headed to the clubs after the show. The cab ride was a quick efficient way to get there with door to door service. Definitely worth the $8 cab ride. We took our seats around 9:40PM and settled in for the duration of the show. They did sell cocktails in the lobby, which you were able to take into the theater. It was stadium style seating like they have at all the new movie theaters. There were also cup holders built into the arm rest. The show was really great, but it is definitely not something you want to take your grandparents to see. You need to be open to modern art, but overall a really great show, that attracts a lot of 20 and 30 somethings.
http://www.blueman.com/feature/liveatluxor.shtml
RA Night Club, Luxor Hotel, Midnight – After Blue Man Group ended we headed over to the hot night club in the Luxor called “RA”. We waited in line for about 15 minutes, think Studio 54. For chunks at a time no one was let in, we were all corralled behind the velvet rope. We were then “inspected” to make sure we met the dress code. Several people were turned away. This is definitely a dress to impress kind of place. After being allowed entrance we paid the hefty cover charge, $10 Ladies and $25 Men. You walk into an explosion of sound, light and entertainment. There were dancers on platforms and acrobats hanging from the ceiling. Definitely a wild sight. Drinks were a hefty price as well. Crown and club soda was $7, and bottle beer were $4.50. We danced the night away and had a great time. RA is highly recommended for the 21-35 year old age bracket. Definitely come dressed to impress.
http://www.rathenightclub.com/
Saturday, November 17th
Sahara Casino Caravan Coffee Shop 11AM – We ate breakfast / lunch at the little coffee shop in the casino. This is typical diner food. It was nothing grand or extravagant, just your run of the mill Denny’s type food. The bill for two people was less than $15. Not bad for a quick bite. I had the fried chicken and my friend had the American omelet.
http://www.saharavegas.com/food/caravan.html
Sahara Spa, 12PM – Calling this a spa is a bit of a stretch but it was definitely a nice experience. It is not the lap of luxury you receive at probably the big hotel spas but it was still a nice peaceful experience. We had a manicure, pedicure, and a facial for $109. This was with the 10% coupon that was in the coupon book you get when you register for the Sahara slot club. The facial was really great, and I highly recommend it. It included a leg and arm massage.
http://www.saharavegas.com/hotel/salon.html
Circus Circus Casino, 3PM – This place was a CIRCUS. There were kids all over the place. Parking was a nightmare. Garage 1 was old and overcrowded. Once we finally found a place to park, we waited a long time for the elevator. It never did come so we finally took the stairs. Upstairs were all the Midway games, overpriced games for poor quality trinkets. I could only take this place in small doses. The guys seemed to like it. They walked away winners and would have played longer at the black jack tables if we didn’t have show tickets that evening.
http://www.circuscircus.com/index.php3
Treasure Island Casino, Buccaneer Bay Show, 7PM – We took another quick cab ride from our hotel to Treasure Island Casino to see the outdoor stage show performed every ninety minutes. I would suggest getting there between 6:30 and 6:45 PM if you want to be able to see anything. It is less than 10 minutes but it is a pretty cool free show.
http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/attrac_bucca.asp
Treasure Island Casino, Hideaway Lounge, 7:30PM – We had a few minutes to kill before our dinner reservations so we popped into Treasure Island for a quick drink. The Hideaway Lounge is just inside the entrance. There was a piano player and I believe it was a stand up bass cello playing soft music. It was a welcome escape from the loud noises of the casino. 4 martini’s was $30.
http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/din_bars.asp
Excalibur Casino, Tournament of Kings Dinner Show, 8:30PM – This was the second show for the evening. We were seated in the 3rd row of Russia. These were great seats for the show. Dinner is eaten with your hands. You are supposed to be in Medieval times. Soup is poured into bowls and you drink from the bowl. Dinner consisted of a roasted Cornish game hen, broccoli spears, potato wedges, and a dinner roll. Dessert was an apple fritter. You don’t go to this production for a great meal, you go for the entertainment. Cost per ticket was $44.66, which included tax and tip. Alcoholic drinks were not included in the price.
http://www.excaliburlasvegas.com/superset.php3/entertainment/tourney.php3
The Beach Night Club, 10PM – This club is located off the strip near the convention center. We had heard it was a cool place to go. This is definitely not the place to be seen at. There were a lot of low brow blue collar workers. All the women who work at the bar wear very tiny bikinis, it was just very tasteless. We left by midnight, and hit the cheap tables back at the Sahara, since the night was somewhat shot at that point. The drink prices were no cheaper than anything on the strip. You would do better visiting a club on the strip. We regretted not paying the extra money and not going to Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay. The review link listed below is much nicer to The Beach, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, or maybe there clientele has changed.
http://www.mandalaybay.com/dining.php3
http://www.travelape.com/lasvegas/nightlife/rum-jungle/
http://lasvegas.travelape.com/nightlife/beach/index.html
Sunday, November 18th
We checked out of our hotel that morning around 10:30AM. We had no problems getting up and moving since our night out on the town at The Beach turned out to be a bust.
Caesar’s Palace, Palatium Buffet, 11AM – We headed back to Caesar’s Palace for the second time on our trip to pick up the guy’s winnings from the fight. Then we headed over to the buffet before heading to the airport for the ride home. We waited in line about 20 minutes for a table. The buffet was really good and had a nice selection of foods. There were breakfast and lunch items on the buffet, an omelet station and lots of desserts to choose from. We were also served champagne with our meal. Overall a pretty good deal for $18 a person.
Delta Flight 465, LAS to DFW, 1:50PM – The flight home was uneventful. The flight was full but not oversold so we didn’t have to wait around looking for people to take off the plane. We took off right on time and arrived into DFW at 6:23PM right on schedule.
------------------
Rachel
CO - Platinum
Hilton - Diamond
SPG - Platinum
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 11-19-2001).]